South Swale

Project Fortress (formerly Cleve Hill Solar Farm) is a photovoltaic power station under construction on the Graveney marshes between Faversham and Whitstable, Kent in the UK.Once operational, it will be the largest solar farm in the UK, generating 373 MW of electricity from 900 acres (360 ha) of vertical solar panels and will also include 700 MWh of battery storage. Because of its size, it is a nationally significant infrastructure project so outside the standard local planning procedure. Electricity will be exported from the project via the 400 kV National Grid substation at Cleve Hill, constructed to serve the London Array offshore wind farm that lies to the north. Here, a battery array will be placed, that will charge from the sunlight during the day and release the energy at night when it is needed.

The Battle of Graveney Marsh, on the night of 27 September 1940 in Kent, England, was the last ground engagement involving a foreign force to take place on the mainland of Great Britain until Operation Nimrod. The fighting took place between the crew of a shot-down German Junkers Ju 88A-1 bomber from KG 77 and a detachment of soldiers from the 1st Battalion, London Irish Rifles (1 LIR), in Seasalter on the north Kent coast. The Ju 88, W.Nr 088 8099, 3Z+EL, and nicknamed Eule ("Owl") by its crew, was a new model and had only entered service two weeks earlier. The British forces were aware of the new model, and had issued orders to capture one intact if at all possible. It was crewed by Unteroffizier (Uffz) Fritz Ruhlandt (pilot), Feldwebel Gotthard Richter (bomb aimer); Uffz Erwin Richter (radio operator/gunner); and Flieger (Airman) Jakob Reiner (gunner).RAF fighter pilots, from 66 Squadron (Hurricane) and 92 Squadron (Spitfire), had attacked the Ju 88 over Faversham. Previously, fighter pilots had been ordered to, when possible, force German bomber crews to land or crash land, so that they and their aircraft could be captured intact, for intelligence purposes. On this occasion, one of the bomber's engines had already been damaged by anti-aircraft fire during a raid on London and, after the fighter pilots were able to destroy its remaining engine, Ruhlandt made a crash landing on Graveney Marsh. The entire crew survived the crash. When members of 1 LIR, billeted nearby at the Sportsman Inn in Seasalter, arrived at the crash site, the four German aviators were attempting to destroy classified equipment on board the aircraft, According to some accounts, the Germans had armed themselves with machine guns previously fitted to the Ju 88 and a sub-machine gun. (The latter was part of a standard survival kit, issued at the time to the crews of Luftwaffe bomber, patrol and transport aircraft). The British opened fire and one of the Germans was hit in the foot. The crew then surrendered and were taken prisoner. The RAF Historical Branch later stated that “some sort of fight took place, but it is far from clear that the [German] crew fired at anything but their own aircraft.”After one of the Germans indicated that the aircraft might explode at any moment, Captain John Cantopher located an object – which he described as a "black box" – and threw it away from the aircraft into a drainage ditch. Historian Don Hollway suggests that the object may have been the sealed housing of a secret BZA bombsight analogue computer; the Air Ministry hushed up the incident so as not to reveal to the Germans that their secret equipment had been recovered.The prisoners were taken to the Sportsman Inn and given pints of beer. The bomber was captured for examination by British experts. The aircraft was taken to Farnborough Airfield where it was said to have "provided highly valuable information". Cantopher was subsequently awarded the George Medal for his action.In September 2010, the London Irish Rifles Regimental Association marked its 70th anniversary by unveiling a commemorative plaque at the Sportsman pub.

Graveney is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Graveney with Goodnestone, in the Swale district, in Kent, England. It is located between Faversham and Whitstable. The main part of the village is located along the intersection of Seasalter Road, Sandbanks Road and Head Hill Road (at the railway crossing), which is surrounded by farmland. The rest of the village is dispersed amongst this farmland. In 1961 the parish had a population of 305.Features include a local pub ('The Four Horseshoes'), a primary school and a church. There is also a regular bus service that runs through the village. The Saxon Shore Way (long-distance path) passes around the Graveney Marshes (between Seasalter and Faversham). The marshes are part of the South Swale SSSI.

Shellness is a small coastal hamlet on the most easterly point of the Isle of Sheppey in the Borough of Swale in the English county of Kent. The settlement forms part of the parish of Leysdown. It is south-east of the main village of Leysdown-on-Sea and north-east of the hamlet of Harty. Media related to Shellness at Wikimedia Commons

St Bartholomew's Church is a redundant Anglican church in the village of Goodnestone, Kent, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building, and is under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. The village is some 1.5 miles (2.4 km) east of Faversham, to the west of the A299 road.

Goodnestone is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Graveney with Goodnestone, in the Swale district of Kent, England. The village is mainly on the road 'Head Hill Road' towards Graveney. In 1961 the parish had a population of 58.

The Church of St Thomas the Apostle in Harty on the Isle of Sheppey in the county of Kent is a Grade II* listed building. The date of founding cannot be fixed with certainty. The official listing dates it to late 11th or early 12th century. In their guide book to the church, Patience & Perks start by reporting the raid by Harold in 1052 and then note that ""The date ascribed to the church of 1089 would be consistent with a re-building following damage by the Danes". However, on the next page they discuss the narrow walls which are indicative of Saxon builders and note that in 1989, when a shallow trench was excavated in the south wall, traces of Saxon work were found. Tufa stone was rarely used after the early Norman period, and so the use of it in a window in the north wall would indicate a date of no later than the end of the 11th century. Patience & Perks observe that the "date of AD 1089 is ascribed to the Norman work, which may well have been the re-building of an earlier structure desecrated by the Danish invaders".After 1200 the north aisle was built and the original north wall pierced to form the existing arcade. The now blocked off south door was cut at about this time. In the head of the jamb is a scratch dial or primitive sundial. A little later the chancel was rebuilt, extended to create the sanctuary and the porch to the north door constructed. At what point the Norman chancel arch was removed is unclear, possibly at the time of the rebuilding but certainly prior to the erection of the rood screen. The 14th century saw the construction of the vestry, Lady chapel and buttressing of the south and west walls. The existing rood screen probably dates to this period. There is no rood loft but the stairs leading to one are still visible. The stairs lead out of what is now the vestry but was originally the north chapel. This was a 14th-century extension of the north aisle eastwards. Within the vestry is the remains of an aumbry or secure cupboard for holding books and valuable plate. The 19th and 20th centuries have also left their marks. The former saw heavy restoration including a complete reroofing of the nave (including reraftering) and heavy pointing of the exterior. The later has seen necessary restoration to the west end which was damaged by a bomb during World War II.To the north of the high altar there is a niche which may have held a figure of St Thomas. Traces of a 14C painting therein have been obscured by a 15C one. There is also a niche for a figure in the Lady chapel, recently (c.1999) filled by a statue of Our Lady of Walsingham. Against the western wall of the lady chapel is a 14th-century oak muniment chest, the front of which is carved with a representation of a joust. In 1987 it was stolen and recovered from Phillips auction rooms. To protect it, the lady chapel arch is filled with an iron screen. It was during the installation of this screen that the shallow trench referred to above was dug.The church is unusual that there is no electricity or running water. Lighting in the nave is provided by hanging paraffin lamps and by wall mounted lamps with reflectors. The parish is within the Diocese of Canterbury and deanery of Sittingbourne. There is one bell hung for swing chiming of approximately 4 long hundredweight (450 lb; 200 kg).

Hernhill is a village and civil parish between Faversham and Canterbury in southeast England. The parish includes the hamlets of Crockham, Dargate, The Fostall, Lamberhurst, Oakwell, Staple Street, Thread, Waterham and Wey Street.

Harty is a small hamlet on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent consisting of a few cottages, a church and a public house, the Ferry Inn (a Grade II listed building). It is part of the civil parish of Leysdown.

Staplestreet is a village near the village of Boughton Street, in the Swale District of the English county of Kent. It is east of the town of Faversham. For transport there is the A2 road and the A299 road nearby.

Leysdown is a disused railway station in Leysdown-on-Sea. It opened in 1901 and closed in 1950. There are no remains of the station.

Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School (usually known as QE or QEGS) is a selective co-educational grammar school with academy status in Faversham, Kent, southeast England. It was formed in 1967, when the Queen Elizabeth 1 Grammar School for Boys and the William Gibbs School for Girls merged and moved into new accommodation opposite. The school is attended by approximately 984 students, who come from Faversham and the nearby towns of Whitstable and Herne Bay. The school is a Mathematics and Computing Specialist School, a title gained in 2005. In 2009, Modern Languages was also added to that list. The headteacher is David Anderson, who had extensive experience in Kent Grammar Schools prior to his appointment.